@HiddenCash money grows on trees at Lake Balboa Park

Mitchell McCoy digs for "hidden cash" at Lake Balboa Park Thursday July 10, 2014 in Van Nuys, CA. Hints about more cash drops in the Los Angeles area have been tweeted by @HiddenCash recently.(Andy Holzman/Los Angeles Daily News)

Kevin Grimes never expected to find money hanging from trees after enjoying a morning bike ride at Lake Balboa Park on Thursday.

Grimes, 30, of Van Nuys said he saw groups of people scouring the area and realized they were looking for money around the park from the now famous Bay Area benefactor known as @HiddenCash. He soon spotted $120 paper-clipped to the leaves of a tree — and $50 attached to another.

“This is a good guy. He’s a blessing,” Grimes said with a grin. “I’m unemployed right now. That’s why the money came in perfect time.”

In his second money-dropping trip to the greater Los Angeles area, formerly anonymous real-estate developer Jason Buzi launched a four-day scavenger hunt that will also take him to Orange County and the Inland Empire. Since May 22, Buzi has become a social-media phenomenon, by tweeting out hints and hiding envelopes and containers now totaling some $50,000 in major cities from San Francisco to San Diego to Las Vegas. His friends have helped make drops in other states well as in Mexico City, Madrid, London and Tel Aviv. In return, he urges finders to “pay it forward” when they can.

“I’m still having fun. I still have money left,” Buzi, 43, said by phone Thursday. “The response has been so overwhelming and positive. It’s hard to stop. It’s almost addictive...There’s so much joy and excitement around this.”

But because of the tremendous amount of time and energy involved, Buzi said he could probably sustain it for a few more months until he will have to enter into a partnership with a commercial or another entity “that maintains the integrity” of the scavenger hunts or scale back the endeavor.

While several people reported locating $100 or less on Thursday, at least a couple of thrilled money seekers Thursday reported on Twitter finding as much as $360.

Buzi dropped the first detailed clue about 10 a.m. Thursday — a photo of a secured parking lot gate. “They locked the gate on me after I hid the $$$ here last night!” he tweeted. “Had to do some off-roading.”

In his second clue, he tweeted, “Rocky would have liked this park. By the lake, in trees, under trees, near trees, holes. Side closer to foot bridge.”

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Brian D’Haem, 32, of Universal City indeed found a plastic box with $100 in cash on the side of the foot bridge. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do with the money but said he wanted to take his girlfriend’s father, who lives near the park, out to breakfast “to start.”

D’Haem said it’s hard to tell if @HiddenCash is doling out money for self-promotion or is actually doing a good deed, but “he’s sharing his money with people in an interesting way, so it’s a positive thing.

“If he’s got money to spend and he wants to do it this way, more power to him,” he added. “Part of the time, he’s buying more Twitter followers — but who isn’t buying Twitter followers these days?”

As of Thursday afternoon, the @HiddenCash Twitter account was being followed by nearly 700,000 people.

Kindergarten teacher Karen Williams, 34, of Encino was thrilled to find $70 in a plastic box in the L.A. dirt after coming up empty in San Diego last weekend searching for Pez containers stuffed with cash. When @HiddenCash tweeted out that money was stashed somewhere in the San Fernando Valley, she immediately thought of nearby Lake Balboa Park, also known as Anthony C. Beilenson Park.

“I definitely want to pay it forward,” she said. “Probably give some back to my church, but I’m not sure yet. I’ll do something great with it, though. It’s definitely a nice surprise.”

Tax professional Steven Kusnitz, 50, of Reseda found $70 in a box in a hole. He said he plans to spend part of it, but because paying it forward is “the whole suggestion of this,” he will donate some.

Asked whether he’ll be declaring the cash to the IRS, he responded, “It’s found money. No. I’m not going to do anything with that.”

One Twitter follower reported that a woman handed her little sister a box and then walked away. “Whoever it was thank you!!” @briana_surae tweeted.